Marriage Hangs in the Balance in Maryland!

I'll keep this brief, but we have an urgent need in Maryland today. Please keep reading to see the ways you can help right now.

Last evening the Maryland Senate voted 25-22 in favor of same-sex marriage, sending the bill on to Governor O'Malley who has lobbied vigorously for the measure and will likely sign it into law today.

The good news is that in Maryland, politicians don't have the final say.

NOM is a member of the Maryland Marriage Alliance, the official committee that has already begun the effort to collect signatures to put the bill on the ballot this November. But time is short—we have just three months to collect 56,000 valid signatures needed to qualify the referendum for the statewide ballot. Over the next three months, we will be taking our message to voters from every walk of life—from college campuses to African American churches, from the Eastern Shore to Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in suburban D.C.

Maryland has a reputation as having some of the most stringent signature requirements in the nation, so we will need several times the required 56,000 signatures to ensure we are not disqualified at the last minute due to signatures that are thrown out.

Your response today is incredibly important. The response in these first few weeks will help to gauge the funds the campaign will need to devote to signature gathering—and the more signatures gathered by volunteers, the more resources we will have to take our message straight to the general public in the fall.

I know that many of you receiving this email don't live in Maryland. If you live outside of Maryland, here's what I need you to do today:

Please forward this emailimmediately to anyone you know who lives in Maryland. It is critical that we expand our grassroots supporter base in order to collect as many signatures as possible in the short time that we have.

Please click here to make a generous financial contribution to help launch the Maryland campaign. Over the next 9 months, we will need to raise several million dollars to counteract the lies and misinformation put forth by our opponents and parroted by the mainstream media. Every dollar you can give today will help to make sure we have the resources to fight back with the truth.

If you act today, I promise you that we will get the signatures to put this measure on the ballot. This is a fight we didn't ask for...but it may prove to be one of marriage's most significant victories this fall. Please respond right away. We urgently need your help today.

Contributions or gifts to the National Organization for Marriage, a 501(c)(4) organization, are not tax-deductible. The National Organization for Marriage does not accept contributions from business corporations, labor unions, foreign nationals, or federal contractors; however, it may accept contributions from federally registered political action committees. Donations may be used for political purposes such as supporting or opposing candidates. No funds will be earmarked or reserved for any political purpose.

This message has been authorized and paid for by the National Organization for Marriage, 2029 K Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006, Brian Brown, President. This message has not been authorized or approved by any candidate.